Palestinian man died of wounds suffered after bombarded Rafah An Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip on Monday killed a 25 year old, Gaza's Ministry of Health said. Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said the victim, Abdullah Hasan Makkawi, died in Shifa Hospital. Makkawi was hit while riding his motorcycle in the Brazil neighbourhood in Rafah.
Israel said Makkawi was a member of the Shura Council of the Martyrs of Jerusalem. The raid also targeted Talaat Halil Mohammad Jarbi, a Global Jihad operative involved in firing rockets and manufacturing weapons.
Israel's military said: “Its forces targeted Hamas terror activity sites and terrorist squads responsible for the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip."
Meanwhile, authorities have asked residents of the southern region of Eshkol to stay in close proximity to shelters.
An Israeli army spokesperson said up to 30 rockets had hit southern Israel early Monday, with no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
More than 10 Israeli artillery shells landed near Ammar Ibn Yasser Mosque east of Khan Younis, causing damage to the minaret and a water tower, witnesses said.
The Israeli army says over 470 rockets have been fired from Gaza this year, but it was the first time since June that Hamas had acknowledged launching rockets at Israel. A Hamas spokesman said the movement would not remain passive in the face of what it called "one-sided" Israeli violence.
Hamas' military wing Izz Addin Al-Qassam Brigades and the Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades said they fired rockets at Israeli military bases in response to the airstrike.
Abu Ubaida, spokesperson of the Hamas armed wing Izz El-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said the rocket firing was a message to Israel that it would not accept "a formula of a one-sided aggression by the occupation on flimsy pretexts".
With Egyptian mediation, Hamas has made efforts in the past to clamp down on smaller militant groups that persist in mounting attacks on Israel, partly in order to avoid another devastating war. The Israeli offensive in the winter of 2009 killed more than 1,000 Palestinians.
But on Monday Abu Ubaida said Hamas had displayed a "high level of coordination" with Islamic Jihad in unleashing the latest rocket barrage. "Should the enemy continue its aggression against the Gaza Strip the reaction by the resistance will be stronger and broader," he said.